Author Neil Kemp

Neil Kemp is a keen and passionate amateur historian and prize winning photographer who lives in Margate, on the North Kent coast in the United Kingdom. Before retiring he worked both with and at Margate Museum, overseeing budgets on a number of historical projects.

Sophie Peirce-Evans, later known as Mary, Lady Heath, was born on November 10th 1896, in Knockaderry, Co Limerick, Ireland. From somewhat humble origins and following a traumatic childhood, Sophie would go on t...

L ady Hester Stanhope, granddaughter of William Pitt the elder, eldest daughter of Charles Stanhope, the 3rd Earl Stanhope and niece of William Pitt the younger, was born into money and would become a Downing S...

The fact that the First World War ended on November 11th, 1918, is a well known and well documented event that is commemorated each year throughout the world. What is less well known is the fact that the last s...

As night drew in over the battlefield at Waterloo on the 18th June it served to not only signal a victory for Wellington and Blücher over Napoleon, but to also provide some visual respite from the grim realitie...

Eurovision; the song contest that we all love to hate. Or do we? Having pretty much literally grown up alongside this European singing extravaganza, I have to admit to being rather surprised at the impact that ...

Captain James Cook first encountered the Aboriginal people of Australia in April 1770 and was immediately struck by their vigorous good health, their cleanliness and their innocent lack of interest in material ...

Banished, a new BBC drama series by Jimmy McGovern, is inspired by the events of the late 1780's when Britain deported its unwanted citizens to the very edge of the known world.
The drama opens in New South Wa...

It is now 50 years since the death of Sir Winston Churchill and television and radio schedules during January in the UK, along with numerous special edition newspapers, abounded with commemorative programmes to...

Testament of Youth, the film based on the best-selling memoir of Vera Brittain, is now on general release in cinemas throughout the UK. The director, James Kent, has stated that it is a family film and its cert...

The First World War is viewed as the first truly mechanised war and the horrific effects of gas, artillery and machine gun against the frailties of human flesh have been well documented over the last century. H...

With the anniversary of the outbreak of WW1 approaching and a film version of Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth well into production this seems a fitting time to look at Vera’s best known literary work, and to...

It was early evening in late November. The lights were already on and the curtains drawn in a vain attempt to illuminate and brighten what had been a dank and dreary autumn day, which in itself, although unusua...

Dover Castle
Dover Castle probably fits most people's idea of a classic medieval fortress. Incorporating a square keep at its heart, it was surrounded by concentric rings of stone walls with regularly space...

Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
This week's travels took me to another Roman site, the fort at Reculver.
A Roman settlement was established at Reculver shortly after the invasion of AD 43 and a small defe...

Canterbury Cathedral
This week's venue will need little introduction as it is not only one of the most iconic buildings in England, but also arguably the most beautiful.
Canterbury Cathedral was founded ...

Quex House and Gardens
Major Powell-Cotton
This week's report comes from a venue in Kent that is a little different from my previous reports.
The Powell-Cotton Museum stands in the grounds of Quex Pa...

Nerdalicious

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...” ― Terry Pratchett

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
― Albert Einstein